Acquiring Free Agents in Fantasy Football

During the fantasy football season, players who don’t get drafted become free agents — players available to any league team willing to drop an owned player. Use the free agent pool to replace an injured player or someone who’s just not living up to your expectations. Use these tips for finding a free agent to boost your fantasy football team:

Check player updates during the NFL games. The early bird gets the breakout player, so to speak, so watch for emerging players on Sundays and be ready to go online and make your move.

Beware of one-week wonders. Each week, many lesser-known players have big games, but you must decide the odds of those performances happening again. Surf the Web for information on each player before signing him, and decide for yourself.

Monitor intriguing players. Before each NFL game, review the free agent pool and choose a few players who you think could start to break out. If the players step up and you liked them already, look to add them to your roster. Many league providers have a player watch tool for this purpose.

View the injury report each week. In addition to monitoring intriguing players, always be aware of players’ status in regards to injuries. Let’s say one of your players has a lingering hamstring injury and it’s significantly affecting his performance; consider signing another free agent at that position.

Analyze recent trends and stats. During the season, sort the most-recent player stats from the last month or last week. In November, you need hot players, not guys who had big games in September and have since gone cold.